Ancient Greek Ceramic Important attic bell Krater of Kerch Group, Geranomachy (pygmies against cranes). INTACT AND UNIQUE.

Bell Krater. Attic, Greek, circa 350 BC Attributed to the Kerch Group MATERIAL: Pottery DIMENSIONS: Height 15 cm and diameter 15 cm. PROVENANCE: Pirvate collection J. A. S. , Spain, 2021. Acquired in a french auction. From old collection, France, 1970 - 1980. CONDITION: Intact. DESCRIPTION: Extremelly interesting bell krater of a very small size, depicting a Geranomachy (the battle of pygmies against cranes) on the A side and and standing man on himation on the B side. It is unrestored. The miniaturistic size of this krater could be related on the size of the pygmies depicted, there are severl other vases (mainly Chous) with this subject but there are no other comparable kraters on the Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum. This is a unique object! The Battle of the Pygmies and the Cranes (Geranomachy) is a theme that appears both in Greek myth and in Greek and Roman visual art (wall paintings, sculptural works, mosaics and vase paintings) . Ancient writers, such as Homer, Aesop, Hecataeus of Miletus, Herodotus, Aristotle, Philostratus, Pliny the Elder, Juvenal and others have often referred to the enmity and struggle between the Pygmies and the Cranes. It seems that this folk-tale was conveyed to the Greeks through Egyptian sources. Greek and Roman visual works of art depict the Pygmies fighting against the vigorous and violent attack of the birds, which in some cases was vicious. The reasons for the literary and artistic portrayals of the Battle between the Pygmies and the Cranes (Geranomachy) in the context of the migration of the cranes in the autumn from the Caucasus (Scythian plains) to Central (Equatorial) Africa, are studied on the article by Sonia Mucznik refered at the end of this description. The Pygmies (πυγμαῖοι) and the cranes (γέρανοι) are mentioned in several Greek and Latin literary sources, in which the Pygmies sometimes lose their battles with the cranes. The Pygmies were, according to Greek mythology, a race of dwarfs living on the upper Nile, said to have been attacked by cranes. According to some scholars, this folk-tale, and especially the knowledge about Pygmies in Africa who lived to the south of Egypt, was conveyed to the Greeks through Egyptian sources. The geranomachy was favoured in Greek black figure vase paintings. The best-known portrayals of the struggle appear on the foot of the François Vase (ca. 570 BCE, by the potter Ergotimos and the painter Kleitias) , with Pygmies mounted on goats fighting cranes. The Pygmies are shown attacking the birds with various weapons: swords, slings and hooks . On a fragment from a Corinthian portable clay altar (ca. 530-520 BCE) , a Pygmy attacks a crane with a club and holding it by the neck, while the crane defends itself with its long beak. The battle also appears clearly on the mouth of a spherical aryballos signed by Nearchos, dated to ca. 550 BCE, where the Pygmies attack the cranes with clubs and some of them also hold round shields. In the Classical period depictions of the Pygmies fighting the cranes featured in the traditional manner, as on the earlier vases. Thus, for example, a Pygmy holding a club attacks a crane nearby, on a rhyton by the Sotades painter, on a neck amphora by the Epimedes painter, and on a pelike where a group of cranes attack a kneeling Pygmy. The Brygos painter depicts the Pygmies as realistic plump dwarfs, either attacked by cranes or attacking them with clubs or swords. The scene of the battle is frequently represented in a variety of additional Greek painted vases, where the Pygmies fight the cranes with clubs, spears and defend themselves with round shields and animal hides; in some cases they hold the birds by the neck, strangling them. The episode also appears in various artistic media of the Archaic and Classical periods, as well as of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. For additional information and literature about the subject see: - Myth and Reality in the Battle between the Pygmies and the Cranes in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Asher Ovadiah1; Sonia Mucznik -Arnott, W. G. (2007) : Birds in the Ancient World from A to Z, London–New York (http: //dx. doi. org/10. 4324/9780203946626) . - Becatti, G. (1965) : “Pigmei”, [in] : Enciclopedia dell’ Arte Antica, Classica e Orientale, Roma, vol. 6, 167-169. - Boardman, J. (1978) : Athenian Black Figure Vases, London. (1979) : Athenian Red Figure Vases. The Archaic Period, London. (1989) : Athenian Red Figure Vases. The Classical Period, London - Janni, P. (1978) : Etnografiae mito. La storia dei pigmei, Roma. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) . - According to Spanish legislation, items sent outside the European Union are subject to export taxes and will be added to the invoice, at the buyer's expense. These export fees are fixed on the final auction price and the tax rate is not applied directly on the total value of the item to be exported, but rather the different percentages by sections are applied to it: - Up to 6,000 euros: 5%. - From 6. 001 to 60. 000 euros: 10%. This export permit application process can take between 1-2 months maximum. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.